Chinese Literature Development Introduction

Dating back to the sixth century BC, the earliest Chinese texts were primarily philosophic, such as the Confucian Analects and Daoist Daode Jing. History as a literary genre was not established until the Han period (206 BC-AD 220) with Sima Qian’s Historical Records: thereafter each dynasty wrote a history of the preceding one. As for the novel, a fully fledged Chinese example did not appear until the Ming period (1368-1644) and was developed during the Qing dynasty.

Classics

Post-Qin dynasty, once Confucianism had become the state orthodoxy, five early works were canonized as the Five Classics: the Book of Changes, Book of Documents, Book of Songs, Spring and Autumn Annals and Book of Ritual. These books were established as the basis for Chinese education.

Tang Poets

With early beginnings in the Book of Songs and Elegies of Chu, Chinese poetry reached its height more than twelve hundred years later in the Tang period (618–907). The two greatest Tang poets are considered to be Du Fu and Li Bai. Others include the Buddhist Wang Wei, also 8thcentury, and slightly later Bai Juyi (772–846).

Epic Novels

In the Ming era, the novel developed from folk tales and myths into classics such as Journey to the West, Romance of the Three Kingdoms and The Water Margin. Later, the Qing novels used a more elevated language and subtle characterization, culminating in the romantic novel, Dream of the Red Chamber. These novels contain many characters that reoccur in other cultural contexts from Beijing Opera to popular television serials and films.